Custom Toolbars 2007

 At the June meeting of the Wellington Office User Group, Peter asked a question about using Custom Toolbars in Office 2007 applications, and how this relates to the Fluent Interface (Ribbon).

I have put together a few pieces of information, as this applies in particular to Access 2007.

Toolbars as toolbars

Whereas VBA will continue to be central to the programming of Access
applications, in general, this does not apply to the Command Bars
(including Menu Bars). You can not make modifications to menu bars and toolbars through the familiar UI, this facility simply doesn't exist.
You have to create/modify them in an earlier version of Access, and then import to your Access 2007 application. Then...
1. Click the Microsoft Office Button in the upper left corner
2. Click the Access Options button in the bottom right corner
3. Click the Current Database category on the Access Options dialog box
4. In the Ribbon and Toolbar Options section select your menu bar name from the Menu Bar combo box
5. Click Ok to save and close the Access Options dialog box.
6. Close your database and then reopen. Viola! No Ribbon, and your
custom Command Bars are shown as such.

Some more information here.

Customising the Ribbon

When it comes to controlling the Ribbon itself in Access 2007 applications, we are basically talking XML, not VBA.

Access MVP Oli Stohr has an excellent article on creating custom ribbons.

On the MSDN site, there is a community article and associated video about adding tabs and controls to the Access 2007 ribbon, which I also found very helpful.

And then, there is Office MVP Patrick Schmidt's RibbonCustomizer add-in, which is a wonderful tool for making many customisation tasks easy.

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